Electrostimulators are known in particular in the form of implantable cardiac pacemakers but also cardioverters/defibrillators or in the form of combination units.
Such electrostimulators serve, in particular, to deliver electrostimulation pulses to a myocardium of a heart in order to cause the heart to contract when stimulated by the electrostimulation pulse. For that purpose the electrostimulation pulse must be above the stimulation threshold of the myocardium. As an electrostimulation pulse requires electrical energy which, in particular in the case of an implant, is to be taken from a battery of limited capacity and in the case of an exhausted battery an operation is required, there is basically a need to minimize the energy required for a successful electrostimulation pulse without endangering the success of the electrostimulation procedure. Success with electrostimulation, that is to say the myocardium responding to a stimulation pulse, is usually identified by the English word “capture”.
In order to be able to implement a stimulation success checking procedure, cardiac pacemakers frequently have detection units in order to detect successful electrostimulation. Such a detection unit is also referred to as a capture detector.
Further aspects of pacemaker control such as for example setting an adequate stimulation rate or preventing (inhibiting) stimulation pulses in the event of natural contractions of the heart are not in the foreground and are basically known to the man skilled in the art.